Obituaries

Mib (Mary Ida Barnds) Garrard February 5, 1934- November 23, 2015 Mib Garrard, teacher, clergy wife, intellectual, mother, grandmother, avid reader, lively conversationalist and wit, died November 23, 2015, of complications from old age. She was born February 5, 1934, in Nevada, MO, to the Right Reverend William Paul Barnds and Ida Lou Sterrett Barnds, parents who taught her to love God and to appreciate the life of the mind. She grew up in Kansas and Nebraska. Her parents, her husband, Rev. James W. Garrard, and her brother, Rev. William Joseph Barnds, preceded her in death. Mib attended the University of Nebraska and graduated from Missouri Valley College in Marshall, MO., where she earned a degree in English and met her husband. She graduated from college in 1954 and lived briefly in New York City, a bold move for a young woman in that day and age. She and James Garrard married in 1956 and shortly after moved to Lexington, KY, where she supported him as he attended seminary by working as a radio continuity writer. The family moved to Stephenville, Texas, where Fr. Garrard served in his first parish, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. There, Mib thrived as a vibrant clergy wife and an involved mother to their two daughters. In 1968, the family moved to Sherman, where Fr. Garrard became rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, a post he filled with zest until his death in 1996. Mib was a robust asset to the parish and a force of nature throughout all these years, building the Christian education program, developing the parish library, and actively participating in the church’s many missions and projects. During this time, she also wrote a witty satirical column for the national Church’s magazine, The Living Church, which lovingly skewered the Church’s human foibles. After her daughters had left home, Mib volunteered for a wide variety of projects. Besides continuing to work with the church, she became an enthusiastic member of the League of Women Voters at a time when women’s political rights were only just beginning to gain attention. She volunteered at what was then called the Crippled Children’s Hospital, Grayson Rehab Center, the Red Fern School, Meals on Wheels, Four Rivers Outreach, and the STEP program, among others. A lover of books and libraries all her life, she served many terms on the Sherman Library Board and one as regional chairman of the Northeast Texas Library System. Eventually deciding that volunteer work alone was not enough to sustain her considerable energies and intellect, she went on to earn her Master of Arts in English at Texas Woman’s University in Denton. Later, she pursued postgraduate courses at Oxford University in England. She began working at Grayson County College, where she taught English for twenty years, reluctantly retiring in 2006. At Grayson, she was twice named Distinguished Professor and was granted the prestigious Piper teaching award. She absolutely adored teaching, and enjoyed regaling her family with many stories about her “scholars.” She also acted as a mentor to her many colleagues and friends at the college. Her years at Grayson were among the most personally rewarding of her long and productive life. Mib was a loving and devoted mother and grandmother, wife, daughter, and sister. Everyone in her family was proud of her; she was unlike any other. She liked poetry and proper grammar, iced tea, England, and musicals. She treasured family traditions and gatherings, and as recently as July attended a family reunion in Missouri that she pronounced to be “divine.” Her sister, Virginia Lou Barnds Albanese, survives her. She is also survived by two daughters, Virginia Carroll Garrard Burnett (Ginny) and Mary Frances Garrard Wallace (Mare-Mare), and their husbands, John Burnett and Bryan Wallace. Her five grandchildren, who brought her much amusement and joy, are James William Burnett, Grant Garrard Burnett, Helen Elizabeth Burnett, Joseph Paul Wallace, and Natalie Garrard Wallace. She also loved and enjoyed her 10 nieces and nephews. In addition, Mib leaves behind devoted friends and her church family, who dearly loved and appreciated her humor, her sharp insights, and her great faith. Family visitation is scheduled for 6:00-7:00 p.m. Friday, November 27th, at Dannel Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 28th, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 401 S. Crockett, Sherman, Texas, with Rev. Wesley Evans and Rev. William Dalton officiating. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mib Garrard Memorial Scholarship at Grayson College, Grayson College Foundation, 6101 Grayson Dr., Denison, Texas 75020 or to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Sherman, TX.